Someday My Prince will Come
by Queen Kakia
Summary: Post-Destiny. Shunned by those she'd counted on, Tess seeks acceptance elsewhere, but then has bigger problems to worry about.
1. Prologue

**Title**: Someday My Prince Will Come  
**Disclaimer**: Taylor is mine. That's it.  
**Distribution**: Just tell me  
**Feedback**: You'd BETTER!  
  
All little girls read fairy tales. Most of them, at that time, believe in them. It's so easy to think that one day, you'll meet Prince Charming, he'll carry you away on his white horse, and you'll live happiliy ever after.  
  
Tess Harding was one of those girls. Only she had known almost exactly who her Prince Charming was. She knew what he looked like, at any rate.  
  
When she had been a child, Nasedo had actually written fairy tales for her. He wasn't affected by the emotion of his stories, but if it earned her trust, it was worth it. Tess' favorite was the one where an evil witch had put a spell on her Prince that made him love her. Tess had come along and rescued him from the enchantment. She liked having the girl be the hero for once.  
  
As she grew older, she learned the name of her Prince Charming: Max Evans. The name rolled off her tongue naturally and beautifully, and she took great pleasure in saying it. "Max Evans," she had often repeated to herself when she knew nobody was listening. It warmed her up down to her toes, like chicken soup.  
  
But there are no such things as fairy tales, even in alien cultures. And Tess had just learned that two months ago. When she'd first moved to Roswell, she'd thought that her favorite fairy tale was coming true--that Liz Parker was a witch and that she'd put a spell on Max. How else could he not instantly fall in love with her like she was mesmerised with him? As time wore on, though, she realized that Max did in fact love Liz, and that there would be no fairy-tale ending for this princess. 


	2. Ride To School

Tess peered into the mirror. She decided that she needed more coverup for those bags. _I look horrible,_ she realized. It wasn't something she was used to. Then again, she'd never been this depressed.  
  
Before moving to Roswell, she'd had something to live for. All of her desires and emotions had been put away in search of her soulmate. But her "soulmate" didn't realize how they were meant to be together. And what was left for Poor Tess? Nothing. Even Isabel Evans, Max's sister, distrusted her. When Tess first came to Roswell, Isabel had been her first friend. Admittedly, Tess had walked up to her in the first place hoping to get to her brother through her, but once she'd gotten to know her, she's thought that they were actually friends. But Isabel dumped her immediately after finding out that Tess was an alien, too. It had never actually been said, but they'd stopped hanging out, and it was mostly because of Isabel's lack of interest.  
  
She sighed, put some more powder under her eyes, and headed for school.  
  
As she stepped into the street, she almost got run over but a brick red Jeep Wrangler. "Hey!" she sputtered angrily, looking up at the driver. As soon as she saw him, she bit her lip to keep from gasping.  
  
"Sorry," Michael Guerin grinned sheepishly from the driver's seat of the car. "I just got it last week. I'm not totally used to it. Want a ride?"  
  
Incredulous, she stepped in. Then she realized that she needed to come up with something smart if she was going to have any kind of spine this year. So that she wouldn't end up another Liz Parker. "I don't know if I should, though. I mean, I want to make it to the first day of junior year alive, right?"  
  
In fact, she didn't really have a preference to whether she made it there alive or not. What did she have to live for? She didn't have Max, she didn't have Isabel, and she wasn't going to save her home planet from slavery.  
  
Michael looked over at her. "You're not okay."  
  
"I'm fine." Even though she avoided his gaze. She was a horrible liar--unless her life was at stake. And for some reason she felt guilty, even though she knew she hadn't done anything; not in the past few months, anyway."No. You're upset. About...seeing Max? Seeing Liz?" He knew exactly what she was upset about. It wasn't seeing Max. Or seeing Liz. It was seeing the two of them together.  
  
"You know, you don't even know Max. You know who he's supposed to be, and who he was, but you barely know him now." He stopped for a red light and looked over at her, and this time, she shakily met his gaze. "How can you be in love with someone you don't even know?"  
  
It wasn't a harsh voice. He was speaking in the gentlest voice she'd ever heard him speak in. He was just trying to reason with her. And everything he said made perfect sense. But still...  
  
"I'm not in love with him," Tess denied. "I had some ideas about destiny. But I'm fine with him and Liz as a couple now." Which they weren't yet. But Tess had pretty much given up on trying to get Max. There was no way he'd ever look at another girl when Liz was around, let alone look at another girl in _that_ way. "Nice car," she changed the subject. It must have been too obvious a switch, because he smiled in a skeptical way. "Matches your aura," she pointed out, noticing it for the first time."That's why I got it," Michael replied, obviously pleased that she'd noticed. "Only worthy people can see it. You know, like that story, with the king's clothes."  
  
"Oh, The Emperor's New Clothes," Tess recalled. "I always liked that story. For a classic, anyway."  
  
Michael raised an eyebrow, but he didn't ask, and she didn't answer. "One of my earlier foster homes was full of little picture books of classic kids' stories. It had some with words, too. I read every single one until I knew them by heart. Even the picture books--I knew the drawings by heart."  
  
"You read," Tess said skeptically.  
  
"'What incested him the most was the blatant jokes of the ones who pass it all off as a jest, pretending to understand everything and in reality not knowing their own minds,'" Michael quoted. "Ulysses, page 665. Hey, we're here." He quickly got out of the car and walked into the building.  
  
"Don't bother opening the door for me," Tess called after him, somehow feeling better than she'd had earlier this morning. Maybe, just maybe, she and Michael could be on their way to becoming friends.  
  
She walked into the building with a slightly higher held head than before. 


	3. School

Tess walked up to her locker, number 689. Then she noticed who was on her right side. Liz Parker. Public enemy #1, and possessor of Max's heart. She didn't want to start the year off on the wrong foot, though, so when Liz looked over, she gave her a small smile. She wasn't really good with friendly smiles, but she tried her best.  
  
Liz's expression turned sour and she immediately turned back to putting her notebooks away.  
  
Great. Just perfect. _This_ was what she got for trying to be nice?  
  
She heard footsteps behind her, and turned around. Instantly, her heart started pumping blood three times faster than before. It was Max.  
  
But he wasn't looking at her. His eyes were focused on Liz, and he grabbed her arm.  
  
Liz spun around. "Max!" she gasped softly.  
  
Tess turned back around. This conversation was none of her business, no matter how much it affected her.  
  
"Liz," Max said in a voice that made Tess cringe. "I...can we... Dammit, I don't know how to say it. Uh. I was thinking. Destiny-"  
  
"Max," Liz interrupted him. "I know. I understand. You have your destiny."  
  
"I don't care. The only thing I care about is being with you. Really," Max assured her, and Tess felt an anger surge through her body.  
  
Liz lowered her voice, but, whether purposely or accidentaly, didn't lower it enough for Tess not to hear what she said. "But what about Tess?"  
  
As if she weren't right there, listening to every word that they were saying.  
  
Max's voice was lowered, too. At least he had *some* sense of sensitivity in him. "She doesn't mean a thing to me."  
  
Tess felt a prickly, warm feeling in the back of her eyes, and her throat dried up. She willed herself not to cry. She didn't cry. She was Tess Harding, the beautiful, self-assured girl with amazing powers. Not cry-baby, small-towned Liz Parker. If she even got tears in her eyes, she'd never, _ever_ forgive herself.  
  
She stared at the back of her locker for a few seconds until she'd gotten control of herself. And suddenly she was angry. Not that she could actually do anything about it. One of her main principles was self-control. Almost as important as not crying was not losing her temper. So she settled for slamming her locker door closed.  
  
Neither Max nor Liz noticed. They were too busy with their make-out session. Tess groaned in disgust and continued on her way to class.  
-----------------------------------------------------------  
Tess paid for her pizza and looked around the quad. She saw groups of people who would probably love to have her join them, but she wasn't in the mood to be hit on.  
  
_Speaking of which,_ she thought as Kyle Valenti started walking up. As soon as he saw her, though, he looked the other way and started walking to a table.  
  
She shouldn't have been suprised. Kyle had stopped talking to them as soon as he'd found out what they were. There was no way he would tell anybody, but he stayed away from them like they were the plague--even the humans. Max had thought that he might have had some questions for Liz, considering their history, but Kyle seemed just as afraid of Liz as of Max.  
  
She couldn't stand there forever. She picked a direction and walked along. Until she saw Them sitting at a table.  
  
Michael looked up. "Tess. Hey." He motioned for her to come sit down. The only empty seat was next to Max and Liz (who was sitting on his lap), and Liz gave her a look that clearly said 'Back Off,' while kissing Max on the jaw. Tess glared and sat down right next to them, just to spite her.  
  
Nobody else acknowledged her precense, but she wasn't looking for acceptance. She knew it was too late for that. All she wanted right now was a place to eat lunch. Maybe one day she would find her own group of friends, considering this group was full.  
  
"So I have Mr. Joels for History," Maria was telling Liz. Tess was in that class too, but she didn't volunteer the information. If Maria didn't value her enough as one of them, she wasn't going to stick her neck out. "He's SO cool."  
  
Michael smirked. "That bore?" Apparently, he had the same history teacher.  
  
Maria ignored him. "He walks in, and even before he takes attendance, he tells us about how he used to live in Greece and Rome and all those places we're studying. And he tells us these really cool stories-"  
  
"None of which probably happened," Michael cut in, grinning.  
  
"All of which probably happened," Maria continued, "and he even used to own his own cruise ship--what was it again?"  
  
"The Jolly Green Giant," Michael answered, and Maria slapped him playfully.  
  
"The Little Giant," Tess volunteered. She'd been on it once, four or five years ago. Nasedo had taken her on a trip to Europe, as a reward for something or other that she'd done well. She'd always been fascinated by Europe.  
  
At the sound of her voice, all conversation stopped. Everyone just stared at her, except Michael, who was still smirking at Maria. One person broke the trance."Did somebody ask you?" Liz asked, frigid.  
  
Tess grew hot. She had herself barely under control. One more word from Liz, and she'd start using her powers. So instead, she turned bitch. "I'm sorry, PRINCESS," she snapped, sarcasm dripping like water as she stood up. "I didn't realize that the agreement I signed when coming to sit here required me to shut up at all times." And before anyone could stop her, she picked up her tray of pizza, threw it in Liz's face, and walked into the building.  
-----------------------------------------------------------  
Maria stopped by Liz's locker before fifth period. Tess looked around for the Wuss Queen herself, but she was nowhere to be found. Probably in the eraser room with Prince Charming. Tess almost gagged at the thought.  
  
Maria started to open Liz's locker. "You know, you embarassed Liz in front of the whole school."  
  
She didn't answer. Didn't Maria know that had been what she'd been trying to do?  
  
"And you ruined her favorite shirt," Maria continued. Good for her. Like she cared?  
  
"She couldn't face you, so she sent me. She's in the bathroom, crying her eyes out," Maria went on, almost as if Tess weren't there and she were talking to herself.  
  
Tess almost smiled. That wuss. That good-for-nothing, weak vermin wuss. "The bathroom near the eraser room," Maria added. "In case you wanted to apologize."  
  
Something inside of Tess blew. She whirled around, steam practically coming from her ears. "Me?!? Apologize to HER?!?" She lowered her voice, but didn't soften it. "Listen, DeLuca. Liz has more to apologize to me for than you'll ever know--and not just that catty thing at lunch. So don't butt into what you don't understand."  
  
Maria didn't flinch, and Tess had to hand it to her. "You know, I don't hate you." Sure she didn't. "I should, because I'm Liz's best friend and you've been a bitch to her since you've got here. But I'm trying to give you a chance." How sweet of her. "You're not helping, though."  
  
"I didn't realize I had to," Tess replied dryly. She didn't need this. Maria didn't want to be friends with her. She wanted her to prove that she wasn't somebody she was. She couldn't change that she believed in their destiny. It was part of who she was. Like her blond hair. Or her lavender aura.  
  
Maria scowled. "You know, if I were you, the last thing I'd be looking for is more rejection. Max, Liz, and Alex already hate you, and I don't know about Isabel, but I might be headed that way, too. I'd hate to see you with only one friend."  
  
Right. Like she cared what Loudmouth DeLuca thought of her. "I don't understand why the six of you think that you are the only choices for friends. Just because I'm an alien doesn't mean I can't have human friends who don't know. Maybe Isabel has given up her social life and will never hang out with the popular crowd again, but it only leaves room for me. And I am going to take that vacant spot in the social ladder no matter who I have to take down for it."  
  
Maria's eyes flashed. "Well. As long as you have your priorities straight."  
  
Tess almost smiled, but instead got out her French book and turned to go. "You might want to mention something about priorities to your good friend Max. Something about saving his species or so."  
  
Maria was silent until Tess started walking away. Then she called, "Good luck with the popularity thing," whether sarcastically or not.  
  
Tess spun halfway around, flashed a grin, and continued walking. 


	4. Arrival At Home

Tess unlocked the door to her house, walked in, and went to the kitchen. She opened the refrigerator door and looked inside. Then, realizing she wasn't hungry, she closed the refrigerator door.  
  
No, she wasn't hungry. She was restless. She wanted someone to talk to about everything that had happened today. Nasedo wasn't there, of course, but then again, Nasedo had never been there for her to talk to. Not that she'd ever really had anything to talk about. Before moving to Roswell and meeting the other three aliens, nothing had really mattered to her besides the search. She had known that once she got to them, nothing about her past would matter, and the only thing she'd need to worry about was destiny and defeating the evil aliens. But now that she'd come and found out that -- suprise -- they probably WEREN'T going to save their race, every little thing was important. She was going to have an extra life now, in order to make up for the meaningless life she'd always had. She was going to go out every night, party until her feet ached, get drunk, and use boys like toilet paper.  
  
Unfortunately, she didn't think she'd be able to handle the whole popularity thing by herself. Maria was right, the last thing Tess wanted was more rejection. And tomorrow, she'd start making friends. But so much had happened today, and she had to talk to someone, or else she'd explode.  
  
Not Max. Tess laughed at herself for even thinking that. It was true, before she'd met him, she'd thought that they would instantly click and she'd be able to pour out all her secrets to him, but he hated her. If she called him, he'd probably hang up on the spot.  
  
Not Maria. Their conversation today by the lockers had been proof of it. The end of the conversation had shown minor promise, but Maria would probably be almost as unhappy to hear from her as Max would.  
  
Liz and Alex were laughs. Especially Liz. Alex had never spoken to her since the day they'd met, which made it clear that he didn't want to get involved with her. And Liz -- even if Liz didn't hate her, she damn near hated Liz. Not just for Max, but her whole personality. It just clashed with Tess's.  
  
Isabel? There was a time where she might have thought so, but she and Isabel weren't friends anymore. Isabel hadn't spoken to her all day. And Tess didn't want to appear too needy.  
  
Michael... well, he didn't hate her. And he'd gone out of his way to give her a lift this morning. Plus he'd invited her to their table. So maybe that meant that he wanted to be friends. But guys... guys didn't want to hear you talk. She'd never really had guy friends, but she'd had plenty of girlfriends, and she'd heard talk. Guys never wanted to be just friends... but she was sure Michael didn't look at her like that -- and she didn't want to, did she? He belonged with Isabel.  
  
Of course, not all guys wanted to be more than friends. But that didn't mean they wanted to talk all the time. Even if they weren't making out with you, they wanted some kind of action, so you always had to DO something when you were around a guy...watch a movie, eat, dance, play sports, etc.  
  
She wished that there were other options, but there weren't. Not yet, anyway. After her plan to be queen of the school got started, there would be. But she had to be patient.  
  
Screw patience. She picked up the phone, and dialed a certain number. 


	5. Talking.

"Hello?" Michael Guerin answered on the first ring.  
  
"Michael?" Tess said uncertainly. She hated that sound of doubt in her own voice.  
  
"Tess?"  
  
He recognized her voice. She was so glad. If he hadn't, she probably would have just hung up and left the whole friendship idea to rot.  
  
"Yeah," she answered, cursing herself internally for sounding so desperate. She fixed her voice and continued talking. "You want to get together or something? I feel like talking."  
  
She hoped she imagined the hesitation. Immediately, she rebuked herself for the thought. If Michael didn't want to hang out, she wouldn't kill herself over it. He was just some guy.  
  
Finally, he answered. "I guess I'm not busy. Your place or mine?"  
  
She laughed. "Mine. I redecorated and I need someone to see it. Do you need directions?"  
  
"Nope, I've been there." What? "Before we knew about you. I was...checking the situation out."  
  
"Uh-huh."  
  
"So," Michael continued, "when should I come over?"  
  
"Are you busy now?"  
  
Tess wasn't as suprised with herself as she might have been. She was pretty foward, but she'd never been like this with a guy before. Then she reminded herself that she wasn't inviting Michael over because he was a _guy_, but because he had potential as a _friend_.  
  
"No, now's fine," Michael answered, not commenting on her un-subtlety. "I can't stay too long, though, because I have to get to the Crashdown in about twenty minutes. Work."  
  
"That's fine," Tess replied. She didn't really mind if he only stayed for five minutes. She just felt like talking to somebody. "See you."  
  
He hung up without saying goodbye.  
  
Five minutes later, Tess heard the roar of an engine in her driveway. She looked out the window and saw Michael walking up the walkway.  
  
She walked over to the door to let him in. On the way, she stopped to look in the mirror and check her hair.  
  
_What am I doing?_ she scolded herself. _It's just Michael._  
  
Just Michael. Right.  
  
She opened the door, and he lowered his head to step in. Then he looked around, scrutinizing every detail with his deep brown eyes. Finally, he turned to her."Nice place," he commented, and she felt some kind of relief surge through her (why did she care whether Michael Guerin liked her house or not?).  
  
"Thanks," she mumbled. All of a sudden, she felt hot, and stupid for inviting him over. To TALK. He must have thought--but she pushed all thoughts like that out of her her. He'd come, hadn't he?  
  
"So," he started, walking into the living room and sitting on the couch, "you wanted to talk."  
  
She prayed that she wasn't blushing. _He's like you,_ she reminded herself, to give herself courage. _If anyone can understand you, it's him._  
  
She sat down on the couch next to him. "Yeah." But suddenly, she forgot what she even wanted to talk about. And why in hell, if she wanted to TALK, did she invite Michael Guerin, king of the insensitives.  
  
"So talk."  
  
He wasn't making it any easier. But she gathered all her strength, and started talking. "So. School sucked today."  
  
He didn't say anything. He could have said he was sorry, but she hadn't expected him to. After all, it wasn't _his_ fault. In fact, he was the one who'd made it bearable.  
  
"I've never been an outsider before," she continued. "So I decided that I'd pick up where Isabel left off. You know. She used to be so popular. So I'm trying to fill the space she left." She paused and studied his face for a reaction. There was none. "I tried out for cheerleading today. Guess what I found out. Izzy quit. She QUIT cheerleading!"  
  
This had an effect. Michael's face darkened to a concerned expression, and Tess was glad. Even if he wasn't currently going out with Isabel, he had a weak spot for her. At least one of the destined couples might get together, even if she didn't get to be a part of it.  
  
"According to Tish Okabe, she didn't have enough time for cheerleading," Tess continued. "Tish was worried about her, too--they used to be best friends, but Isabel hasn't spoken to her in ages."  
  
"Tish worships Izzy," Michael informed her. "She'd be worried if Iz passed her in the hall without saying hi. Then again, she has a point. Izzy hasn't really been the social queen she used to be. She's not the same snob either, which the others aren't complaining about, but-"  
  
"But it's not her," Tess interuppted, somehow knowing what he was going to say before he said it."Right," Michael confirmed.  
  
"And..." Tess started to get to her main point; the thing she'd called Michael up to talk about in the first place, "it's not just Isabel, is it?"  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"I mean, it's not just Isabel who's given up her social life. When was the last time any of you went dancing, or to the movies, or to the mall, either as a group or with other friends? Do any of you even have other friends anymore?"  
  
Michael was quiet for a little while, thinking it over. Then he looked up, grinning. "That's sort of hypocritical, don't you think?"  
  
He was right. It was. But... "Not anymore, I don't think. I've just about given up on destiny. Max has Liz...I don't know about you and Izzy. And the other species of aliens...I don't know if they're going to show up--and if they do, will Max and Isabel even care?"  
  
That was okay. It didn't sound too desperate, but it didn't sound too apathetic, either.  
  
Michael sighed. "They'll care. They want to pretend that they're human, but they can't forever. When the other guys arrive, they'll come around. You'll see."  
  
She didn't reply. She didn't know what to reply--not when she didn't really believe him. He picked her head up and forced her to look him in the eye. "Tess. You want a social life? Okay. Let's go to the mall tomorrow night. We'll have fun. Will that make you feel better?"  
  
"Yeah," she replied, barely making any noise. She would have nodded, but Michael was hooking her on his gaze. His eyes were captivating, yet reassuring at the same time.  
  
Suddenly, she realized their hold was too intense for her. She blinked, and suddenly it was gone."Is eight good?" she asked.  
  
His smile was infectious. "Yeah." Then he looked down at his watch. "Damn. I've gotta be at work soon." He stood up.  
  
"Do you mind taking me?" Tess asked. "I'm getting hungry and there's NO food in my fridge. Want to come see?"  
  
"No, thank you," Michael declined. "Come on." 


	6. Tips, Taylor, and Tunes.

They walked in to the Crashdown together. If Tess cared what Maria thought of her, that would have been a mistake. As soon as they walked in, Maria's face turned angry.  
  
Michael didn't seem to notice. He walked into the back room, leaving Tess alone with Liz and Maria. <> she thought. But at the same time, it was sort of cute that he didn't notice the death looks that Liz and Maria were giving her.  
  
Tess saw Liz give Maria a pleading look. Maria said something in return, and walked up to Tess' booth.  
  
She pulled out a pad and a pen. "Anything I can get you, Space Slut?"  
  
"Yeah, a Blood of Alien smoothie," Tess replied coolly. If Maria wanted to play this game, that was fine with her. "And I wondered why your tip pocket looked so empty."  
  
Maria ignored her and walked over to the counter where Michael's head was sticking out. She ran her fingers through Michael's hair as she gave him the order, then glanced at Tess, as if to say, <>  
  
Whatever. She didn't need Maria's boyfriend. Tess took the free time to examine her nails. One of them had broken this morning, not to mention that her pale orange purple polish was coming off. She'd have to do them tonight. Too bad she didn't have any friends for a girls' night.  
  
Not that she couldn't make friends. So far, Tish Okabe and Taylor Richardson both seemed like feasible options. She decided that when she got home, she'd call them and invite them. If they asked why she had no parents, she'd just tell them that her dad was out for the night.  
  
"Blood of Alien smoothie," Maria interuppted her thoughts. "Too bad it's not YOUR blood, not that anyone would want it if it had you."  
  
Was that supposed to be insulting? Whatever. She ignored it, and Maria left.  
  
Tess finished her smoothie and left $2.94, no tip. The smoothie cost $2.95, but she knew it would piss Liz (and maybe even Maria) off, and neither of them would do anything about it to her over one cent.  
  
She walked out of the Crashdown. Then realized that she had no ride home, living on the other side of town. <> Nasedo had been planning to buy a car, but he'd never gotten around to it before leaving to play Pierce. He'd left all his money to her, though. Maybe she should get one. Unless she wanted to rely on Michael for rides the rest of her life.  
  
Looking around, she saw Taylor Richardson walking up. What luck. A savior.  
  
"Tess!" Taylor called out when she reached her. "Hey!"  
  
"Hey," Tess replied, "What are you doing?"  
  
"Well. My afternoon is pretty busy. First I'm going THERE," she pointed to the UFO museum, "to check out Max Evans, and-"  
  
"Wait," Tess interrupted. What was wrong with damn planet? "You like Max?"  
  
"Yes, omigod, he is SUCH a hottie," Taylor replied in her rushed voice. "Plus he's really smart and really nice. And today I found out he worked here, so decided to pay a little visit. You know him pretty well, right? I've seen you with him."  
  
"Yeah. Don't bother, though," Tess advised. "He is head over heels hopelessly dovoted to Liz Parker." She must have grimaced while saying the name, because Taylor made a face.  
  
"Ugh, I don't like her, do you?" She must have decided on her own accord that Tess didn't like her either, because she continued without letting Tess reply. "I don't know what Max sees in her."  
  
"No kidding, but it's really hopeless," Tess warned. "When I first moved here, I wanted him, but-"  
  
"Oh, you like Max?" Taylor asked. "Then never mind. I can't go for a friend's crush."  
  
Not that she wasn't touched by Taylor's considering her as a friend and deciding not to go for Max even though she'd probably liked Max since before Tess came to Roswell, but the reference to Tess liking him hurt. "No. Not anymore," she lied through her teeth. Actually, it wasn't technically a lie--she didn't like Max. But she did love him. In theory. And as of now, she'd rather anyone break of the Dreamcouple, even if it weren't her, just so she wouldn't have to deal with Liz gloating every time they passed in the hall and by their lockers.  
  
"You sure?" Taylor's voice startled her from her thoughts.  
  
"Huh? Oh, yeah. I'm over him. Go for it, girl." She grinned.  
  
"Okay, but then you're coming with me," Taylor practically ordered her. "He knows you better--he barely even knows my name. You can...introduce us, or whatever."  
  
"Fine," Tess agreed, "but just so you're warned, he doesn't like me that much." Which was somewhat of an understatement, but Taylor didn't need to know their whole history and she wasn't planning on telling her. Hopefully, Max would remember his manners and not act rudely in front of company.  
  
"I don't care," Taylor insisted. "Let's go." She took her arm and led her across the street. When they got to the door, she turned to Tess. "How do I look?"  
  
"Great," Tess replied. Taylor was one of the prettiest girls in the school, almost as much as Isabel. She had thin, long, dark red hair and chocolate eyes. Her height was about average; sort of tall but taller because of her platform boots. She wore a red shirt under a dark denim jacket and black pleather pants that Tess would die for.  
  
She didn't bother telling Taylor that it probably wouldn't matter how pretty she was when there was Liz. Tess was pretty--prettier than Liz, more importantly--but Max had barely given her time of day, and the only reason he had was because she was an alien, too.  
  
They walked in together, and Tess spotted Max's leather jacket near the back of the museum. "Come on," she whispered, tugging a little at Taylor's jacket sleeve.  
  
Taylor suddenly looked panicked, but she followed Tess anyway. They finally reached him, but as he was turned around, he didn't notice them.  
  
"Hey, Max," Tess started, "what do you think happened to all the aliens on board the ship?"  
  
"What the hell are-" He turned around and noticed Taylor. "Oh. Uh, we have exhibits about that all over the museum. What are you doing here?"  
  
Tess ignored the question. It wasn't important. "No, what do YOU think? You know, like what's your personal opinion on the crash?"  
  
"I don't believe in aliens," Max responded, "only don't tell anyone." He looked at Taylor for that. So, maybe there was hope after all.  
  
"Don't listen to him," Tess told Taylor. "He is the most obsessed UFO nut in the world. Like, certified."  
  
"Tess, what are you doing here?" Max repeated.  
  
"Polite, aren't we?" She glared for a second. "I'm visiting. You know Taylor Richardson?"  
  
"I've seen her," he replied. Then he turned to Taylor. "You're in my history class, right? Nice seeing you."  
  
Taylor flushed slightly. "Yeah, you too." Pause. "So...how do you like working here?"  
  
Tess rolled her eyes. "It can be pretty fun," Max answered. "Especially when the REALLY obsessed UFO nuts come to visit. Like, certified for REAL?" He made of point of looking over at Tess at that and she wondered whether or not it would be too distasteful to swoon, like in Bye Bye Birdie.  
  
Taylor giggled. "Yeah, I can bet." Another pause. "Oh, you know what? I think Tess and I have to go. We have...an appointment. At the mall."  
  
Tess didn't want to leave, but Taylor dragged her by the arm. "Nice to see you, Max!"  
  
As soon as they got outside, Tess turned on her. "What was that for? You two were getting along well!"  
  
Taylor rolled her eyes. "I was NERVOUS," she pointed out, as if any idiot should have realized. Which they should have, but so what? "I can't flirt when i'm nervous."  
  
"So, what, you only flirt with guys you don't like?" Tess questioned. It seemed a LITTLE strange.  
  
"What an attitude." Taylor called her on it, waving her hand in the air.  
  
"Well, excusez-moi," Tess replied sarcastically.  
  
"You're excused," Taylor dismissed it like she were the queen of the world addressing a subject. It was sort of cute, actually, because Tess WAS actually a queen of a different world. "Now come with me to the mall. Amanda Larsen is throwing a party Friday night and I need a new outfit. It's an Open House--you should come. Fifty bucks if you can get Max to come, too."  
  
"In your dreams," Tess shot. "Unless you plan on stealing him LITERALLY under Liz's nose."  
  
Taylor shrugged. "Why not?"  
  
<> Tess thought, not voicing her opinion.  
  
They reached Taylor's car, a silver VW Bug, and Taylor unlocked the doors.  
  
"I guess I'm going shopping then, too," Tess commented as she got into the car.  
  
Taylor didn't answer. Instead, she turned the radio switch on and put a tape in. An introduction to a song started to play. "Kim McCarty. Ever heard of her?"  
  
Tess shook her head, and the words started to play.  
  
_I'm not caught up  
In some little girl's fantasy  
I'm don't believe  
In a frivilous chlihood dream  
I'm not waiting for the prince with a slipper in his hand  
Or the one with the magical kiss  
I'm not waiting for a frog to turn into a man  
But I'll admit to believing this  
  
Someday my prince will come  
On a white horse he'll be riding  
Someday my prince will come  
To carry me away  
Don't you know he's coming back  
In all his glory  
Claiming the victory  
Someday my prince will come  
He's coming back for me_  
It was perfect. Like Tess' dream of Max. He didn't have to impress her--she was already smitten with him. Only problem was, it didn't exactly work out that way. He HAD impressed her immensly (okay, except for throwing her on the hard desert floor that one night), but he wasn't planning on carrying her away on his white horse any time soon.  
  
Tess forced her mind off of Max. He didn't love her. It was a done deal. And anyway, Taylor was going for him.  
  
"Cute song, isn't it," Taylor interrupted her thoughts. "Come on, we're here."


	7. Girl Talk

Tess walked up to Taylor's house, stopping to watch the sunset over the roof. Sunsets were a beautiful part of Earth--Nasedo had taught her that the sun didn't set as magnificently on their home planet.  
  
When they'd finished shopping, Taylor had invited her to her girls' night sleepover. As it turned out, they only lived a few blocks away from each other.  
  
She knocked on the door, and Tish Okabe opened it a few secods later. "Hi, Tess! Come in!"  
  
Tess stepped inside and looked around. Wow. Apparently, Taylor's parents were loaded. The house was enormous, and the hall she'd just stepped into was almost the size of her whole house. The floor was wood, with an oriental rug roughly the size of Manhattan, and there were beautiful framed pictures hung on the pale yellow walls. The railing on the spiral staircase was brass, and the second floor looked somewhat like a fancy hotel.  
  
Taylor appeared at the doorway of a room. "Hey, Tess!" she called. The distance between them was so enormous that Tess could barely hear her. "Come upstairs! Manicures!"  
  
Tess and Tish walked upstairs together. The stairs went on forever--it felt like she was climbing to heaven. In fact, when she reached the second floor, it looked like heaven. They walked into the room where Taylor had been standing, and Tess dropped her bag on the floor in a corner with the others. Then she straightened up and looked around the room.  
  
The walls were blue, with black beaded drapes covering every inch of the place. The ceiling was black, covered with glow-in-the-dark stars. The carpet was blue and thick. Tess slipped out of her platform sandals and the soft carpet enthralled her tired feet.  
  
"Wow." she turned to Taylor. "Cool room."  
  
"Thanks," Taylor replied, almost automatically. Tess suspected that the trait of saying 'thank you' as a reflex must be bred into rich kids when they are born. There were so many cases to prove that...but not now, there's a story to tell. "You know everyone?"  
  
Tess nodded. On the floor on the oppostie side of the room, doing their nails, where Alexandra Potter, Corrine Williams, Amanda Larsen, Angel Morgan, and Nikki Johnson. On Taylor's bed, Keana Dawns and Alicia Reeve were reading a magazine.  
  
"So what, she just decided that Liz Parker was cooler than we are over the summer?" Amanda was saying.  
  
"No, if you remember right, all last year it was going downhill," Angel reminded them. By this time, Tess had figured out that they were talking about Isabel and she sat down by them in order to hear more.  
  
"Oh, hi, Tess," Corrine said, and turned back to the others. "But quitting cheerleading--I mean, much as she always hated to admit it, Izzy LOVED cheerleading. She lived to cheer. So the question is, what happened to her sometime last year and intensified over the summer that would make her stop thinking of popularity as a priority?"  
  
"Maybe she fell in love with Liz," Alexandra cracked, and they all burst out laughing. "What? Liz is pretty."  
  
"Not pretty enough for Isabel, probably--considering she's a narcissist," Angel replied. Everyone laughed again, but Tess' was sort of half-hearted. Just because Isabel didn't want to be her friend didn't mean that they weren't still practically family.  
  
Tess took a bottle of nail polish remover and started cleaning her nails. "Okay, enough Izzy-ripping. Next topic."  
  
"Guys," Keana called instantaneously from the bed.  
  
"Guys suck," Alexandra responded just as quickly. "Chris does, anyway."  
  
"What'd he do THIS time?" Amanda asked.  
  
"Only dumped me for Stacey Scheinin," Alexandra complained.  
  
Angel made a gagging face. "You mean dumped you for her or dumped you in her pursuit?"  
  
"Well, we all know Stacey will have any guy who'll be with her." Alicia took her eyes off the magazine and looked over at them, mouthing, "Slut."  
  
"Yeah, don't worry, 'Xandra, any guy who'd want her is so not worth you," Tish assured her. "Who are you going for now?"  
  
"I'm not sure," Alexandra replied. "Craig Capacho, maybe?"  
  
"He is SO hot," Nikki raved. "And what about Zach Wilson?"  
  
"Isn't he taken?" Amanda asked.  
  
"No, Jenn dumped him last week," Nikki answered.  
  
"You know who I think is hot?" Taylor cut in.  
  
"Uh, let me guess--Max Evans?" Alexandra took the magazine that Keana and Alicia had just finished and started flipping through it. "It's always: Hey Izzy-Max this, Max that, what about Max? Not that I blame you. He is pretty hot. Too bad he has a girlfriend."  
  
"Liz Parker," Corrine mocked the name, very appropriately. "I saw them making out in the middle of the hall today. Who does she think she is? And WHY does she get the hottest guy in the school?"  
  
"No, he's not as hot as his friend--you know, Michael Guerin?" Keana retorted. "Too bad he's taken, too. Hey, Tess, I heard you and Michael are getting pretty tight."  
  
"We're friends," Tess said, hoping her face wasn't as bright as she wasn't feeling. "By the way, he's not going out with Maria anymore. He dumped her before the summer."  
  
"Poor chick," Tish commented. Yeah, if she'd known Maria like Tess did... "How come?"  
  
"Who knows?" Well SHE certainly did, and six certain other people did to, but she wasn't about to tell anyone, especially when the girls who owned the gossip mill. "He's Michael."  
  
There was a long silence, finally broken by Alexandra's quiet singing.  
  
"Iz, Liz, Iz, Liz," she chanted in a faint tune. "It rhymes! Iz, Liz, Iz-"  
  
Keana threw a pillow at her. "Shut up, Xan. You're a freak."  
  
"You suck," Alexandra shot back, returning the pillow into Keana's face.  
  
"Pillow fight!" Angel shrieked, grabbing another pillow and tossing it at Alicia.  
  
"Don't hit me," Corrine warned. "My nails are still wet." She delicately put the paint brush back into the bottle of dark wine polish, which Tess took and started using to paint her toes.  
  
"Where's Taylor?" Nikki suddenly asked.  
  
"Who knows?" Alicia shrugged. "Maybe she'd got a guy in the next room or something." She laughed.  
  
"She's probably making popcorn or something," Tess offered. She knew, in fact, that Taylor WAS making popcorn, because she'd smelled it. Being a half-alien gave her extra-perceptive senses. They wouldn't figure out her secret from a lucky guess, but they WOULD be impressed.  
  
Some minutes later, after she finished using her powers to dry her toenails, Taylor walked in with a huge bowl un unbuttered popcorn and put it down on her bed.  
  
"Nice, Tess!" Keana commented. "How'd you do that?"  
  
"An alien told me," Tess joked. Alien jokes seemed to be the way to go so that no one suspected her in Roswell. Not that too many humans were suspicious, but Dark Angels (the enemy species) could almost totally shapeshift. They always had a few distinct characteristics, but they were hard to tell.  
  
"Right," Taylor said, giving her a weird look that Tess grinned innocently at.  
  
"Someone blow dry my nails," Corrine whined. "I want popcorn!"  
  
Alexandra laughed. "You finished painting them ten minutes ago. I'm sure they're dry."  
  
"No, they're not!" Corrine protested. "My nails dry really slowly."  
  
"Or maybe you're just obsessive-compulsive?" Tess offered. She moved over to where Corrine was sitting and reached her hand out. Corrine pulled back. "I'll be very careful," Tess promised. She touched a nail and used her powers to dry them. Hey, nobody would suspect. "They're completely dry, and you're completely obsessive-compulsive. Have some popcorn." She passed the bowl.  
  
"Thanks." Corrine touched her nails to make sure they were dry. "That's weird, though. I could've sworn..."  
  
"Get over it," Alexandra said, taking a handful of popcorn and throwing one at her.  
  
Five popcorn fights and one chick flick later, everyone was getting ready to go to bed. Taylor turned the lamp near her bed off, and Tess fell fast asleep.


	8. The Cure

"Tomorrow night?" Michael repeated. "I guess...nothing better to do." They were in study hall, and quite predictably, not studying.  
  
"Thanks," Tess said. "Do you think you can get Max to come?"  
  
Michael gave her a look.  
  
"No, no, nothing like that," Tess explained quickly. "Just...I have this bet to see whether I can get him to come or not. Because someone *else* wants him there. And I get fifty dollars if I do. Just don't tell him, ok?"  
  
"I'll see," Michael replied. "But if he comes, Liz will, too--you know that, right?"  
  
"Yeah, I know." A teacher looked over, so she pretended to be absorbed in her physics book. "Get Isabel to come, also. Everyone really misses her."  
  
"I'll try," Michael agreed. "But she's pretty much given up on popularity."  
  
"Ugh."  
  
"And don't forget, you've got a date with *me* tonight."  
  
"Michael, I don't want to go to the mall."  
  
"Okay, then, we won't."  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------  
  
"And then, some idiots shoved bottles of alcohol into their hands, so when Valenti reached the party, they got busted," Michael continued. They were waiting in line for the SpaceCoaster at an amusement park right outside of town. It had taken Michael almost half an hour to convince her to come. She didn't have a very good track record with amusement parks. But despite history, she was having the best time she'd ever had in life right now.  
  
Tess laughed. She'd never heard the whole story of how the humans had found out about them, and it was more interesting than she'd expected.  
  
"So they're in jail, and Alex is like, 'Tell me or I'll tell Valenti what I did.' So Liz tries to hint it to him, in case they're bugged or something. But he just *doesn't* get it. He's like, 'What do you mean, not from around here?' 'What, from up North?' And finally, when she spells it out for him, he's like, 'Okay, you're crazy,' but he won't tell Valenti. so anyway, they end up convincing him, and basically, that's where you come in. Oh, let's go."  
  
The line was moving, and they were about to get on the roller coaster. They walked foward and sat in the car, and Tess squeezed Michael's hand out of nervousness.  
  
"What, you don't like roller coasters?" he asked, surprised. "I'm shocked at you, Tess. I always thought you were a cooler person than that."  
  
Tess made a face, and he laughed. "I've never been on a roller coaster, actually. I was only at one amusement park ever, and I got lost."  
  
He burst out laughing. Then, seeing the offended look on her face, stopped. "Sorry. It's just that I used to come here with the Evanses all the time, and I ALWAYS got lost. It was more fun that way, I thought."  
  
Really. Well, that settled it--Michael was the strangest boy she'd EVER met. But good-strange. He was allowing her to let go for the first time in her life, to just kick back and relax.  
  
He was her cure.


	9. The Effects of Drinking

A horn honked outside, and Tess looked out the window. She was suprised to see Max's jeep there with Max, Liz, and Michael in it. She'd assumed that Michael would pick her up and Max and Liz, if they came, would get there through Max. But now she realized it was a dumb thought--even if Max hated her, he was still Michael's best friend and if there was room in the jeep, why not take them, too?  
  
She got her shoes on, went outside, and got into the back of the jeep with Michael. "You know how to get there, right?" she asked Max.  
  
"Yeah," he answered without looking at her, and Tess' face almost burned in shame. That was how far she'd sunk--her soulmate didn't even want to see her if unnecessary.  
  
In a few minutes, they were there. Max parked towards the end of the block, and they walked into the house.  
  
The first things Tess noticed were the colors. It almost looked the like disco, with all the outrageous decorations that didn't match at all.  
  
The second thing she noticed was that as soon as he walked in the door, Michael started dancing with Taylor, who was standing near the door. She didn't know why it bothered her so much--she didn't really 'like' Michael and she knew Taylor was interested in Max. Actually, she'd heard Taylor and Michael used to be good friends. But still.  
  
_Still what?_ a nasty voice in her head challenged. _Still you're hot for Michael and don't want anyone dancing with him?_  
  
Tess groaned. It must have been her imagination. No WAY she was going insane and having voices. There was just no way.  
  
To shut up her brain, she took a bottle of beer from a table and took a sip.  
  
She nearly spit it out. Ugh. That was disgusting.  
  
And beer wasn't supposed to be that strong, was it? So why, all of a sudden, did she feel tipsy? She wasn't drunk, that much she knew, but she was too high for the amount of alcohol she'd had.  
  
Suddenly, the bottle was ripped from her hand. "DON'T drink that stuff," Max warned, glaring. "We don't have as high tolerance from alcohol as everyone else. Do you want to blurt out everything in front of the whole party?"  
  
Tess scowled. "I didn't know, okay? Give me a break." She walked over to where a bunch of kids where hanging out. Lucinda Baker, obviously drunk off her ass, was dancing around a pole like a stripper, and the guys were cheering.  
  
It made her want to puke. Some people had no dignity.  
  
The thought disturbed her, and she instantly denied it. She had plenty of dignity--she might have been desparate, but she'd never sunk that low.  
  
She moved away, and almost bumped into Michael and Taylor, who'd stopped dancing and were now talking. "Hey," Michael greeted her. "How's it going?"  
  
"Got totally chewed out from Max for having some beer," she replied, not caring whether Taylor became curious or not. "Apparently, my resistance isn't as strong as some other people's."  
  
His eyebrows raised. "And he never told me. I'm going to kill that guy one day..."  
  
Taylor obviously feeling left out, started to talk. "You know Amanda spent the whole day setting this stuff up? That's why she wasn't in school today. It's not very conservative, but it works, don't you think?" She didn't let them tell her what they thought, because *obviously* they agreed with her. "You guys want food?"  
  
They walked into the kitchen with her. On the table was every type of snack anyone could ever want. Tess took a barbeque corn chip and ate it. Not bad. Barbeque sauce wasn't quite Tabasco, but it worked.  
  
"Hey, what's that?" Michael asked, pointing to a fog coming out from the closet. It was light blue and very smoky, and Tess didn't realize what it was until it started surrounding Michael.  
  
"Shit!" she exclaimed. She grabbed one of Michael's arms and pulled him, but he was stuck in the cloud. "Taylor, help!"  
  
Taylor looked even more frightened than Tess felt, but she took Michael's other arm and tried to pull him out. Which was extremely brave on her part, because she had no idea whatsoever of the real situation. At least Michael probably knew it had something to do with the Dark Angels.  
  
They almost got him out, but at the last second, the fog gave an extra pull, Michael disappeared into it, and it evaporated.  
  
"Oh, wow," Taylor muttered. She turned to Tess. "What was that?"  
  
"I have no idea," Tess lied. She turned and ran, looking for Max. Finally, she saw him and Liz slow dancing near the stairs. She rushed over to them and shook them out of their trance.  
  
"Max, they have him," she panted.  
  
He gave her a weird look, but didn't stop dancing. Apparently, he didn't realize the importance of the situation. "Who has who?"  
  
<> her mind instantly corrected, but she ignored it. Now was not the time for a grammar lesson. "The Dark Angels," Tess told him, "you know, the bad aliens? They have Michael."  
  
Max pushed Liz away, and something evil inside Tess' mind loved the momentary look of pained rejection that crossed over Liz's face. "They what? How?"  
  
"It's called a Sonta Fesh on our planet, but Nasedo translated it into Latin for me," Tess explained. She was fluent in Latin, Spanish, French, Hebrew, Arabic, Italian, Russian, and many other languages. "It's a Nebula Inductio, which translates roughly into English as Erasing Fog."  
  
Max had no reaction except for a look of stupidity that she would have thought only possible on Michael. The stupid boy! Did she have to spell it out to him in public?  
  
"ERASING fog. They-" she lowered her voice "send a light blue fog and it has to target someone of our species. They created it for the war. And even though we have human DNA in us, we're partially Czechsolovokian, so it recognized us. I don't know why the fog went for Michael and not me, but it's got him."  
  
"Did anyone see?" Liz asked.  
  
"Taylor Richardson," Tess replied. "But she doesn't know I know anything about it."  
  
"Well, that's good," Liz said.  
  
It was sort of hypocritical for a human who wanted to be considered one of them didn't want other humans to know about the secret [especially since this particular human had told more than one person about it], but she ignored it. Now was not the time to care about some petty little rivalry with Liz. Tess lowered her voice even further. "Nasedo has some sort of tracking device that he gave me. Based on exactly where the fog was, it can figure out exactly where the Dark Angels are by pointing us in the right direction. And it's in my pocket."  
  
She knew Max understood somewhat, but not totally. "So...you can go back and find out how to find him?"  
  
"Yeah, I can. I have to hurry, though. But." He had to know. They couldn't go into this unprepared. "They're not going to kill him. They're keeping him as bait for the rest of us. It's a trap."  
  
"It doesn't matter," Max insisted. "We have to get him back. I can't believe you even suggested that--after all he's done for you? This is how you treat the guy who welcomed you?"  
  
Tess was taken aback. Suggested what? All she'd done was warn Max about what would happen. She'd never said they shouldn't go.  
  
<> she told herself. She was forever the victim of misunderstanding, and she shouldn't have expected it to change just because she and Max were on the same side now. Not that they hadn't been before--he just hadn't realized it until now.  
  
"Fine, hold on." She went back into the kitchen. Luckily, Taylor had left. She picked the small device out of her pocket. It looked sort of like a stopwatch. She pressed a button, and a few moments later, a green arrow appeared and pointed in a certain direction.  
  
She put the machine back in her pocket and walked over to Max and Liz. "Okay, let's go. We have to get Isabel." Looking at Liz, she added, "and Maria and Alex, if they want to come."  
  
Liz smiled faintly, but it quickly disappeared, and her face clouded over with fear as she started to slightly shake. They got in the Jeep, and Max sped twenty miles over the speed limit to his house. They got there, and he ran in.  
  
Tess looked at Liz warily, wondering if she was going to be obnoxious. Instead, she looked back at Tess with a look of trepidation in her eyes and started to get out of the jeep.  
  
"Wait! I'm not going to hurt you. Where are you going?" Tess asked, competely baffled.  
  
Liz's eyes started to fill with tears. "I can't do this, Tess. I'm sorry--I can't. I know that at times I pretend to be tough, but I can't risk my life for this. I thought, when I first got involved with this, that I would be strong enough to handle everything. But I guess I'm not. So I'm quitting now before I crack. Goodbye, Tess. I promise that I won't tell anyone, ever, about your secret. Tell Max--" her voice cracked "tell him I'll miss him." She leaned in and whispered. "Don't tell him that I'm not sure whether I still love him or not."  
  
"Wait, you're walking out and leaving ME to deal with them?" Tess demanded. With a little pussy that girl was.  
  
She was actually crying now. "I'm sorry, Tess. Goodbye." With that, she turned and ran away.  
  
As soon as the anger had appeared, it faded. Wow. She actually felt bad for Liz because of her weakness. She realized now that Liz wasn't bad; she wasn't out to make Tess' life a personal hell. She just wasn't as strong as she wanted to be. "Bye, Liz," she whispered at Liz's receeding figure.  
  
Max and Isabel walked outside about a minute later. Isabel's face was as white as a sheet as they got into the car.  
  
"We left a note saying we went on a trip with your dad," Isabel told Tess. "And we gave him your cell phone nu-"  
  
"Where's Liz?" Max interrupted accusingly. He turned angrily on Tess. "What did you do to her?"  
  
"Nothing!" she insisted. "She-she left. She doesn't think she's strong enough to do this--she said tell you she'll miss you."  
  
Max reached for her and let out a sound so reminicent of an angry tiger that Tess recoiled in fright. "Liz would NOT do that. What did you DO to her? Where IS she, bitch?"  
  
"MAX!!!" Isabel yelled, grabbing his arm. "Get a fucking HOLD on yourself!" Tess had never seen Isabel so furious. "Just because you don't believe her doesn't mean you can hit her!" She looked at Tess, eyes not warming to her, either. "Is it true?"  
  
Tess nodded. She reached into her purse and took out her cell phone, then held it out to Isabel. "Call her." She would have given it to Max, but she was afraid he would go crazy and break it when he heard the truth.  
  
"Thank you." Isabel dialed a number. "Liz? It's Isabel...Yeah, Tess said..." She listened for a long time, and then nodded to Max.  
  
"Give me that!" he raged. She grabbed the phone. "Liz?...what do you mean?!?" He listened for a while. "Damn you, Liz Parker!" He pressed the off button and tossed the phone back to Tess. "Bitch."  
  
She wasn't sure whether he was referring to her or Liz, but she knew not to push it. Obviously, Max was heartbroken. He knew now how she'd felt when she came.  
  
They arrived at Maria's house, and Isabel ran inside. Tess was scared of being alone with an angry Max, but Isabel, probably sensing that, took a very short time to get Maria out and into the jeep.  
  
Maria was practically hyperventilating when she sat down next to Tess. "I have to call home and leave a message," she told them, taking a cell phone out of a small bag. "What should I tell my mom?"  
  
"Tell her you're on a trip with Tess' dad," Isabel suggested. "That's what we said. Better if all our stories match. Who's going in to get Alex when we get to his house--Maria?"  
  
Maria shrgged. "Sure, his parents know me the best out of the rest of you. That would work. I'll go for Liz, also. No offense, Max, but I don't think her parents will want you alone with her overnight after that desert stunt you two pulled last year."  
  
Max didn't say anything, so Isabel spoke for him. "We're not picking Liz up."  
  
"What?" Maria leaned forward. "What are you talking about--of course we are; is she sick or anything?"  
  
"She quit," Tess answered. "Got up and left. Supposedly, she's not strong enough to deal with this stuff." _But anyone could have told her that months ago._  
  
"I didn't ask you, bitch," Maria retorted. "Max, Isabel?"  
  
"She's telling the truth, Maria," Isabel replied.  
  
"Liz did NOT 'get up and leave,'" Maria declared, maddening. "I don't know what mind game Tess thinks she's playing with you-"  
  
Tess lost it. "Shut the fuck UP already!!!" she yelled. Max stopped short and everyone looked at her, shocked. It was the first time she'd asserted herself, but it shouldn't have been. "Let's get a couple of things straight, okay? I did NOT come to Roswell to ruin all of your lives, first. I came with Nasedo to help you find your destinies and save your families. Second, I don't manipulate people unless absolutely necessary. I DIDN'T give Max the hallucinations, and I didn't give Michael and Isabel their dreams. I had them myself--that's why Nasedo knew it was so crucial to bring me to you. They were programmed into us. Third, I am just as much, percentage-wise, human as Max, Isabel, and Michael. Meaning, I have feelings, too. Fourth, Liz DID, in fact, 'get up and leave,' and it's not my fault. And I think we should accept both those facts. Fifth and last--Maria? I am NOT fucking Michael. So get over yourself." They all looked sufficiantly shell-shocked, so she gave them a small smile. "Now. I hope that we can all be friends."  
  
Nobody said anything for a long time. Max finally started up the car again and headed towards Alex's house. When they got there, Maria got out of the car and walked up to the door.  
  
Isabel turned around and smiled sort of sheepishly. "Sorry, Tess. I know we were judgemental of you. Only Michael accepted you. Who ever would have thought Michael to be the most righteous of us?" Tess smiled to herself. "But I'm sorry."  
  
Tess looked at Isabel's aura. It had only waves of sincerity and regret in it. "Okay," she sighed. "It's all right. Friends?"  
  
"Sisters."  
  
Tess always hated mushy scenes like this on TV and in books, but somehow, she didn't mind them in real life. In small doses. And this dose was small enough, because just then, Maria and Alex walked out of the house.  
  
"So we're going to chase the bad guys," Alex babbled as he got in after Maria. "Well, that's great. Hope we have our heads at the end."  
  
"You can leave if you want to desert us," Max muttered bitterly.  
  
"Max, man, I'm sorry about Liz," Alex said.  
  
"Yeah, well." Max turned on the radio, and suprisingly, the song from Taylor's tape was playing.  
  
I'm not caught up  
In some little girl's fantasy  
I'm don't believe  
In some frivilous chlihood dream  
  
I'm not waiting for the prince with a slipper in his hand  
Or the one with the magical kiss  
I'm not waiting for a frog to turn into a man  
But I'll admit to believing this  
  
Someday my prince will come  
On a white horse he'll be riding  
Someday my prince will come  
To carry me away  
Don't you know he's coming back  
In all his glory  
Claiming the victory  
Someday my prince will come  
He's coming back for me  
  
I've never lived  
In a castle by the sea  
No prince and slave  
Or terrible dragons just for me  
  
I've never been rescued from a tower by my hair  
Or in all of the kingdom been the one the most fair  
But I'm gonna be a princess in eternity  
'Cause a handsome prince is coming for me  
  
Someday my prince will come  
On a white horse he'll be riding  
Someday my prince will come  
To carry me away  
Don't you know he's coming back  
In all his glory  
Claiming the victory  
Someday my prince will come  
He's coming back for me  
  
Someday my prince will come  
On a white horse he'll be riding  
Someday my prince will come  
To carry me away  
Don't you know he's coming back  
In all his glory  
Claiming the victory  
Someday my prince will come  
He's coming back for me  
  
He's coming back  
He's coming back  
He's coming back  
  
He's coming back  
He's coming back  
He's coming back  
Back for me.  



	10. Volkswagon Beetles

They'd been out on the desert road for a few hours when Alex spoke up.   
  
"Uh, you guys?" he said. "I didn't really want to say anything before, but do you think that car is following us?"   
  
Max slammed on the brakes. "What the hell are you talking about?"   
  
"That car, behind us." Alex pointed to a blue VW bug in the distance. Tess' mind was nagging at her, trying to to tell her something, but she couldn't tell what.   
  
"I don't know, if they're leaving the town, this is the only way..." Isabel offered.   
  
The car. It was blue. Bright, shiny blue, though dimmed in the dark. A Volkswagen-   
  
"That's Taylor's car!" Tess exclaimed, nearly jumping out of her seat.   
  
Four pairs of eyes immediately zeroed in on hers.   
  
"Taylor Richardson?" Isabel asked.   
  
Tess nodded. "I was in it yesterday. We went to the mall. It might not be her, but how many people in this town have that car?"   
  
The car was approaching quickly.   
  
"Should we stay here and talk to her?" Alex asked.   
  
"I think we should get out of here," Isabel said. "What does she know?"   
  
"She saw the Nebula," Tess informed her. She turned to Max. "You did tell Isabel, right?"   
  
He nodded at the same time as Maria and Alex said, "What nebula?"   
  
"It's an erasing fog," Tess explained. "The Nebula Inductio." Seeing their blank faces, she added, "It's Latin."   
  
"You mean they speak LATIN on your home planet?" Maria interrupted, totally serious.   
  
"No, it's a translation. Anyway, it's a pale blue fog and it targets anyone from our species--a specific person every time, though. They invented it to take us over. Anyway, when the fog evaporates, it reappears in front of them with the victim paralyzed for a few minutes. So they've got Michael trapped there as bait."   
  
"Shit," Alex cursed.   
  
"They're slowing down!" Maria announced.   
  
In fact, the car WAS coming to a stop, a few feet behind them. And to their suprise, not one, but TWO figures were emerging from the car.   
  
"Kyle!" Maria exclaimed.   
  
It was Kyle, along with Taylor, who were walking towards them.   
  
"Max, go!" Isabel whispered franctically.   
  
"We can't NOW," Tess pointed out. "Kyle knows already anyway, and we have to find out what Taylor knows. Or what he told her."   
  
They walked up, and Max got out of the car. Tess followed him, with Maria, Alex, and finally Isabel behind her.   
  
The seven of them stood there for a while, five against two. Nobody talked for what seemed like hours. The tension was so thick it almost smothered Tess.   
  
Finally, Max spoke. "What are you doing here?"   
  
"We're coming with you," Taylor replied evenly.   
  
"Where?" Maria asked, playing dumb.   
  
"To find the 'Dark Angels' who took Michael," Taylor answered.   
  
"How do you know who the Dark Angels are?" Isabel challenged, stepping up. She didn't even pretend she had no idea what a Dark Angel was.   
  
"We heard you at the party," Kyle responded. "You should be more careful about that."   
  
"You told her?" Max accused him, advancing menacingly.   
  
"No," Kyle denied. "She figured it out."   
  
"I was the one who dragged him out here in the first place," Taylor added. "I didn't even know he knew until we got out here. He only told me when he realized he wasn't going to convince me to turn back."   
  
"Why did you come?" Tess asked; not coldly, just curiously. "Michael means nothing to you."   
  
"I owe Evans one," Kyle laughed bitterly. "For saving my life. He has too much pride to let me pay him back by helping him. This was my only chance."   
  
Taylor was looking at the ground, presumably thinking. When Kyle finished talking, she began. "I know Michael a little. Not that well, but I know him. And what I know, I can't afford to lose. Even if I didn't know him, I couldn't hear about someone whose life was in peril and not do anything."   
  
Tess saw Max looking at Taylor in a new light. She was, too. They probably all were. Beforehand, Tess had thought of her as funny, outgoing, headstrong, and not all that deep. In other words, popular. Sure, there were hints of her being more than that, like when she'd said she wouldn't go after Max if Tess liked him--but wasn't that in the popularity guidebook?   
  
Now, she realized what Taylor REALLY was. Loyal, brave, emotionally strong, stubborn, and basically everything Tess had always wished she were. Because that's what Max needed in a soulmate.   
  
"Okay," Max finally decided, "you guys can come."   
  
Taylor smiled, now that she'd gotten her way. "We can't travel all night, you know. We have to sleep. Tess, does that thing say how far away they are?"   
  
Tess looked at it. No, it didn't say it in numbers. But she felt it somehow. "It's at least a two days trip."   
  
"Two days?!?" Isabel shrieked frantically. "Michael could be dead by then!"   
  
"No, he won't be," Tess assured them. "They have to keep him alive, as bait for us."   
  
"That's great, that's just great," Kyle said, shaking his hair out of his eyes. "We're fish, is that it?"   
  
"Valenti..." Max warned.   
  
"Fine, I can take a hint." Kyle looked slightly dejected, but shrugged it off. "So what, we drive to the nearest motel and sleep there?"   
  
"I can live with that," Maria replied. "Does anyone have any money?"   
  
No one answered. Finally, Taylor said, "I have about a hundred dollars and I owe Tess half of it."   
  
"Well, if that's the only money we have, that's what we're using," Tess declared, stating the obvious. "I only hope we'll find two places cheap enough."   
  
"Yeah, well, we'll see what that can get us," Max said, taking charge. "Everyone get back in their cars, and let's continue."  
  
Tess got back into the car with everyone else. She leaned her head against the window and, in a matter of minutes, fell into a light sleep. 


	11. That Thing In A Nookie Motel Room

Tess woke up to Maria's light shaking. "Tess. Wake up. We've reached a motel."   
  
Tess yawned and sat up, rubbing her eyes. The florescent light was way too bright. She considered asking someone to turn it off, but then realized that would be asininely stupid. Instead, she got out of the jeep, and almost collapsed. She grabbed onto the side of the car for balance, straightened herself up, and looked around. Alex was holding Isabel, Kyle was standing next to them. Maria was getting out of the other side of the van.   
  
"Where are-"she was cut off by her yawn, "Max and Taylor?"   
  
"They went to get rooms," Isabel answered.   
  
_Together?_ Tess thought. Must have been Taylor's doing.   
  
"Ugh, are they almost back?" she asked, limiting her stretch.   
  
Isabel looked over her shoulder. "Yeah, I see two figures coming. I think it's them."   
  
Tess checked. Yep, it was them. And they were walking suspiciously close together. She couldn't help the grin from spreading across her face. Even though she WAS destined to be with Max. She just didn't care anymore.   
  
And Liz...well, Liz had left. Plus, she'd admitted that she wasn't sure whether she loved him or not.   
  
Not that Max would fall in love with Taylor too quickly. He was still heartbroken over Liz. But if Taylor was serious about him, she would persist, and if she persisted, she might just get him.   
  
They approached, the most awake out of the group.   
  
"We only had enough for one room," Taylor informed them. "I guess we're gonna have to rough it tonight."   
  
Tess made a face, but followed them to the room. When they got there, they stood there for a few seconds before Taylor flung open the door.   
  
Tess looked into the room and gasped. "It's like the porno version of Aladdin!"   
  
Ew. It was disgusting and had the words "WHORE ROOM" written ALL over it. The smell was rancid and sweaty, and the carpet looked like it hadn't been vacuumed in months.   
  
"That's--what?" Maria asked from behind her, confused. She pushed her way up to the front. "Wow, it is. I mean--it's almost exactly like the one Michael took me to."   
  
Michael took her to a nookie hotel?   
  
"How romantic," Tess muttered.   
  
"No, no, no, you don't understand," Maria reassured her, walking into the room. Everyone followed, in single file as if not to touch any more of the room than they had to.   
  
"Apparently, I don't, either," Alex cut in.   
  
"Yeah, that was before you knew about us," Isabel explained. "Michael was looking for some junk in Texas, and kidnapped Maria because he needed her car."   
  
Tess laughed. How Michael was that?   
  
"I get the bed!" Taylor called, changing the subject. She was seemingly oblivious to the unhygenic nature of the room. It suprised Tess--Taylor was rich, and rich went with spoiled, didn't it?   
  
"That's not fair," Isabel protested. "I'm not sleeping on THAT." She pointed to the floor.   
  
"It's a big bed," Maria pointed out. "It could probably fit three." She looked over at Tess questioningly.   
  
"I'll take the couch," Tess offered. "You three get the bed. And the boys will sleep on the floor, since they already smell anyway."   
  
"Thanks for the sensitivity," Kyle scowled.   
  
"Well, as long as nobody minds," Isabel teased, taking her shoes off. "I'm going to the bathroom. Even though this water will probably make me even dirtier." She opened a door, but inside was a closet.   
  
"Hey, look!" Kyle pointed, over the laughing. He went to the closet and picked up a little piece of black lacy lingerie. "Any of you girls want to model it for me?" She noticed he was looking at Maria as he said it. She wasn't looking back--like that, anyway. Tess almost wished she were, because it would mean her getting over Michael. Which would leave Michael--   
  
No. She did not just have that thought.   
  
"No thanks, Kyle, why don't YOU model it for US?" Taylor shot.   
  
"Kyle, put it down," Max said, looking at it as if it were some sort of weapon. "It's probably full of dirt and sweat and diseases-"   
  
"And semen," Kyle added.   
  
Isabel scowled. "Okay, NOW I'm definitely going to the bathroom." She walked off hastily and went through a door--the right one this time.   
  
"Kyle, put down that...thing!" Max ordered, and Maria burst into giggles. "What?"   
  
"That 'thing,'" Maria repeated, still laughing. "You're such a GUY."   
  
"Imagine that," Kyle muttered. He threw the clothing at Maria. "Okay, so what's it called?"   
  
She shrieked and dodged out of its way. "Don't let that thing touch me!"   
  
"That THING, is it, Maria?" Alex mocked.   
  
Maria stomped her foot and turned to Tess and Taylor. "You know, you have to stick up for me! You're girls, too!"   
  
"Maria's right," Tess defended her. "That thing is a very romantic piece of lingerie and deserves a better title than 'that thing.' Why don't we invent a name?"   
  
"How about snox?" Taylor suggested. "Does that word turn you on?" looking at Max.   
  
"Yeah, baby," he replied in an Austin Powers voice. "I get hard just thinking about the word 'snox.'"   
  
"It sounds sort of like snot," Alex cut in.   
  
Max laughed so hard that he snorted, which set everyone else off. Of course, Isabel chose that time to walk out of the bathroom, blowing her nose into a tissue, which cracked them up again.   
  
"Are you guys all right?" she asked with horribly apparent concern for her own mental health over theirs. Tess felt a giggle coming up and tried to force it down. By a total accident, she made eye contact with Maria, who was also about to explode, and all hope was lost. The both burst out laughing at the same time. Tess could hardly breathe and her lungs ached for air, but she couldn't stop laughing. Tears were running down her cheeks, but she couldn't explain what the hell was so funny.   
  
Finally, she got control over herself. "Sorry," she panted.   
  
Yeah. Whatever.   
  
They took turns using the bathroom, and it smelled like sweat, but at least it had running water. Tess spent about in hour in there--although it felt like five seconds--just splashing her face with the freezing water. Finally, when even Alex was cursing at her to get out of the damn bathroom, she decided she was finished and got out.   
  
At which point she propmptly collapsed into the chair and fell asleep. 


	12. Cry, Heart of Yours

She woke up at dawn. It was still dark, but she coud see well enough. Well enough to determine that she was the only one awake.   
  
She was an early riser--always had been and probably always would. It was easier that way, except for the fact that there were times when she was too exhausted to move. Oh well. She'd pay later.   
  
There were people strewn all over the hotel room. Max's head was almost under the bed, Kyle was behind her couch, Maria was hanging off the bed (how did she not wake up?), and Izzy and Taylor were back to back in fetal positions.   
  
Curious.   
  
A yawn escaped Tess' lips, and she stretched out her arms. She got up and walked around, careful not to step on anyone. There was no food. She looked in Taylor's wallet on top of the TV. Fifteen dollars. That could get something.   
  
But she realized she wasn't hungry. She didn't know what she was feeling. Not hunger, even though she wanted to eat a thousand candy bars to make it go away. Not fatigue, even though she wanted to curl up in her bed at home and stay there for a year. Not fear, even though she wanted to run away and leave it for eternity. It wasn't any of her usual feelings. Which scared her, because Nasedo had basically taught her how to handle emotions. But she couldn't handle this if she didn't know what it was.   
  
Strangely enough, it reminded her of contentness. But not. It was the opposite of contentness. Emptiness, maybe. But she'd always felt a little bit of emptiness--why was she feeling such and overload of it now?   
  
When was the last time she'd cried? It must have been at least a year ago. She was due for a good one.   
  
Tess looked out to the horizon and let the grip she had on herself loose. She leaned back against the pole behind her and the tears started to flow. There were a lot of them this time...for Max rejecting her, for the group excluding her, for Nasedo leaving her, for having no family [as usual], for Liz, who wasn't strong enough, for Michael being captured, and for Michael himself. For everything she felt about Michael--what he might or might not have felt back. For the fact that he came closer to identifying with her than anyone else had _ever_. For the fact that he was nice to her when no one else was. For the fact that she might never see him again.   
  
When the wells were finally dry, she walked back inside. Everyone was still asleep...except Max, who was standing by the dresser. In pants and an undershirt. Immediately, the air thickened, and she swallowed, wondering why it seemed so hard. She was over him, wasn't she?   
  
_Yeah, keep telling yourself that._ You can't resist destiny--Nasedo must have told her that five thousand times over the years. That had been why they'd moved from Melbourne, New York, St. Louis, Boston, Philadelphia, and San Deigo. Six out of ten moves had been because of guys. What a dirty little whore _she_ was.   
  
Their glances brushed for a second. "Hey," he muttered, visibly uncomfortable. "Morning." He quickly put on a shirt.   
  
"Good morning." She stood there, looking for something to do with her hands, something to occupy her so that she didn't look pathetic. Could she sink any lower? Pretty soon, she'd be reading those "Are you too obvious" quizzes that came in YM or Seventeen.   
  
"You...uh...think we should wake them up soon?" he asked, eyes shifting in order to avoid looking at her. It was sort of pissing her off, actually. Not that she was any better.   
  
YES! Wake them all up NOW! "Let's let them get up on their own. Long day ahead of us." No. Did she just prolong the agony? The horribly tense pressure that came with being alone with Max? Great. Not only was she a whore, but she was an idiot.   
  
But she was a funny, beautiful, strong, self-confident, powerful idiot-whore. And that was enough for her.   
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------   
  
By ten o'clock, everyone except Kyle was awake. Max, Isabel, and Taylor had gone to get food, while Tess and Maria were talking on the couch and looking over at Kyle.   
  
"Think we should wake him up?" Maria asked.   
  
Tess thought about it. "No." He was tired--let him have the extra sleep. "We'll give him until they come back."   
  
"Right." Maria fell silent. She looked over at Tess, opened her mouth to speak, and then closed it again. She opened it again, and then closed it. Again. Finally, she spoke. "Tess, do you like Michael?"   
  
"What?" Oh no. Please, no. She didn't want to have this conversation, not right when she and Maria might have been on the path to friendship. "I don't know. He's my friend."   
  
Maria nodded, pretending she understood. "Right." She looked a little worried, and extremely nervous. Then, as if she'd made a huge decision, she inhaled and began to speak. "Because I think I still love him."   
  
Well.   
  
It wasn't like she hadn't realized that. Maria had a history (albeit a screwed-up history) with Michael; she wasn't going to give it up just because Tess loved the boy, too.   
  
"But the thing is," Maria continued, "that you love him too." Tess made no move to correct her. For all purposes, Maria was probably right. "Yes. You _do_ love him. So we obviously can't go run up and compete for him as soon as we rescue him."   
  
Tess didn't respond. Maria was right, of course. Selfishness was a bad thing. If there was one thing she'd learned since coming to Roswell, that was it.   
  
"Tess." Tess looked at her. "Can we agree not to push anything onto him until he chooses one of us? And no hard feelings?"   
  
It was killing her, Tess realized. It was killing Maria to give up something that she wanted to badly. Tess would never be able to do that. Or maybe she would--maybe she would have to--by agreeing to this deal. "Okay. No pushing Michael, no hard feelings. Got it."   
  
They shook on it.


	13. A Short Beep

Three days later, and nothing had been found. They were still looking--in fact, they were on the road right now. Things had been a little akward between Tess and Maria since that last conversation, but she and Taylor had developed a much closer friendship. Max had become more tense, probably because of Liz, but he had also gotten closer to Taylor. As far as she'd told Tess, she wasn't pushing for anything more at the moment. Which was good, because he probably wasn't ready.   
  
_Beep._   
  
Taylor stopped short, and the Jeep almost rammed into them from beind. They all flew foward.   
  
"Good thing I warned you guys to wear your seatbelts," Taylor said off-handedly. Tess almost laughed. She would have, in fact, but the device in her hand had just gone off. She recalled Nasedo's training: _"A long beep means that the device is losing power. A double beep means that the subject has changed location. A short beep means-"_   
  
"What the hell was that?" Kyle demanded angrily. _"A short beep means-"_   
  
"Wow, is _someone_ in a bad mood," Taylor commented. "Tess, was that your...thingie?"   
  
"A short beep means that the subject has passed within a one-mile radius!" Tess exclaimed aloud. Michael. Michael, they were going to find Michael, because he was only a mile away. They were going to find him and take him home and and never let him out of their sights because e would be safe and alive!!! "Yes! Michael is within a mile of us!" She felt her face break into a grin, and knew that her eyes were lit.   
  
Max knocked on Taylor's window. He, Maria, Alex, and Isabel stood outside, almost in a line. _Michael, Michael, we're going to save you!_ He mouthed the words, _What's going on?_ and Taylor turned the car off, opened the door, and got out.   
  
She spoke to them for a few minutes, and then got back into the car and turned to Tess. "So that's it? We're really only a mile away?" _Hold on, Mikey._   
  
"Right. We just have to follow this thing for a mile and then we're there! She had never been this happy in her life. Even on the trip to Roswell, she'd been preoccupied-- _What will Max think of me? What if they're more advanced than me? What if they don't accept me? What if they don't even know that they're aliens?_ but now, the only question was, _How hard will we have to fight for him?_ She was willing to do whatever it took.   
  
"Well, they're following us. So let's go." Taylor started the car again and turned off the road--driving onto the expanse of grass at the side of the highway, following the device.   
  
It hadn't been a full minute when they came across the figure. Taylor slowed down and they all looked.   
  
"Oh my God." Michael. It was Michael. 


	14. 

Tess blinked. Michael. _Oh my God, Michael!_  
  
He was here. He was safe. He was sitting down on a grass field and not being tortured and not dead and not being forced to slave for the Dark Angels and just sitting there and not getting up and not running over to meet them with a huge grin and--dammit, what the hell was _wrong_ with that boy?  
  
"Come on," Taylor announced, and they got out of the Beetle. Max and his group walked over.  
  
"What's wrong with him?" Maria asked worriedly, chewing on her lip. All that lip gloss would get on her teeth, Tess thought cruelly, before mentally slapping the thought away. Maria was nice. Maria was a good person and didnt' deserve to be mocked.  
  
Maria loved Michael.  
  
"Now would be our cue to run away screaming, wouldn't it?" Alex joked half-heartedly. Nobody laughed.  
  
Max looked worried. "That might not be Michael. It could be a shapeshifter, or an image or something."  
  
No. He was wrong She handed Max the device. "Look. It's him."  
  
He looked, and nodded. "Okay, so it is Michael. But still. We should approach with caution."  
  
"You're all full of bullshit." Isabel scowled, and Taylor and Tess grinned at each other. This was the ice princess they'd known and loved. "I'm going over there. Come on." She walked over to the Michael-thing that must have been Michael. "Michael!"  
  
The Michael-thing that must have been Michael looked up and smiled so genuinely that Tess knew he _was_ Michael. "Izzy!" He looked up at the rest of the rest of them. "Wow, all of-" he stopped, raising his eyebrow. "Taylor?"  
  
Taylor smiled apologetically. "Long story. We'll tell you later."  
  
Tess ran over and fell in front of him. "Michael? It's really you?" He was alive and safe and looking at her like she was a diamond. So why was there a nagging feeling that this was too easy?  
  
He kissed her forehead, and she fell foward into his arms. "It's me," he whispered. _It's him. It's him, and he's safe, and we'll take him home, and-_  
  
"Ahem." Alex cleared his throat, and she turned around so that she was almost sitting on Michael's lap. He nudged her a little, she leaned into Michael, and he grabbed her hand.  
  
Maria. They met eyes, and Maria turned away. Immediately, Tess straightened up and let go of Michael's hand. God, she was such a dog. Not even a week after they'd agreed not to jump Michael, and here she was, hanging onto him like she was an extra limb or something.  
  
Taylor's voice broke the silence. "We should get out of here. They might come afer us. Michael, where are they? Will they come after us?"  
  
Michael looked confused. "I--um--I don't think so. But I can't go until I disable their...machine thing. They have some device down there-" down where? "-that has an invisible shield around the place, and they put some of my blood into it. If I try to leave, it'll electrecute me."  
  
Not a problem. Nothing could be that big of a problem now, it seemed. "Can we break it?"  
  
"Probably," Michael replied. "I think it shatters." He started to walk, and they all followed. Where were they going? It was just grass for miles and miles. "It's underground. Come on."  
  
Oh.  
  
Suddenly, Michael stopped. He leaned down, and Tess, when looking right at it, saw a hole big enough to fit a person. Michael lowered himself into the hole, and then called back up. "The coast is clear! Come down!"  
  
Tess looked at Isabel, who was next to her by the hole. _Who first?_ she asked. Isabel shrugged. _I don't know,_ Tess shrugged in return. _I don't care._ "I'll go," she finally said aloud. She put her hands by the sides of the hole and carefully lowered herself into the ground. Then she jumped the last foot or so.  
  
Moving out of the way for the next person to come down, she looked around. The room/cave thing was completely dark, except for the entrance at the top. She could see the outline of Michael's body, but no more. Suddenly, she felt frightened. "Michael, where are we?" she whispered.  
  
He put a finger to his lips. "Later."  
  
The rest of the group came down, and the room started to feel crowded. It was smothering, and Tess wanted more than anything to get out of there. Where was that...whatever it was? And where was the oxygen?  
  
"We're all here," Max's voice emerged through the darkness. He sounded annoyed. The great leader couldn't stand being led by someone else. _He's your king,_ Nasedo's mental programming berated her, kicking in. _Don't disrespect him._ "What now?"  
  
"Now you die." A figure approached from the formerly-invisible hallway. She held a candle, and as she waved her hand over it, it lit up. Now Tess could see her face, frozen in an evil grin, with long, dark brown hair framing her features. Who was she? Despite the slight warmth from the candle, Tess shivered as she felt her eyes go wide.  
  
The woman waved her hand at them, and Tess felt her limbs freeze over. She tried to move her arm, but it lay stiff by her side. _Oh my God._ Dead. They were all dead. Maybe Michael could do something with his powers. she looked at him.  
  
He smiled and waved.  
  
_Oh. My. God._  
  
The woman walked over to Michael and kissed him on the lips. "Good job, Michael."


	15. Crystals and Torture

_Once upon a time, there was a princess named Tess. Princess Tess was the most beautiful girl in the world, with long, curly blonde hair and eyes the color of the ocean. Her skin was a soft peach, and her lips, the red of ripe raspberries._  
  
Tess' heart was beating so quickly she would have a heart attack soon if this didn't stop. That was good. At least one muscle below her neck was still moving. What the hell was Michael doing?  
  
The woman laughed. "Nice to finally meet all of you. I'm Lainea. One of your 'Dark Angels.'" She laughed again, mocking Tess as she moved closer to her. Tess tried desperately to pick her foot up off the ground, but to no avail. "I've heard so much about you." She grinned, and stopped right before Tess. "_Especially_ you. Apparently, somebody had been playing with my little Mickey's heart before I got to him. Evil, evil girl. Hello, Tess." She spat in Tess' face. The wench. As soon as this thing ended and she could move again, that woman was going _down_. "And you." Lainea moved towards Isabel. "Maria."  
  
"Um, that's Isabel," Michael corrected her. Lainea looked back at him, angry. _Oh my God, she's going to kill him._ But suddenly, her saccharine facade came up again, and she smiled. "Of course. Isabel. You're the cold-blooded little bitch, right? That's what Michael thinks, anyway." She looked back at him for confirmation, and he nodded.  
  
_Now, besides being a beautiful princess, this girl was very special. She was an extraterrestial being, and she had magical powers. She could change what things looked and felt like, she could pick up on things just by glancing at them, she could make people see things that weren't there, and she _loved_ Tabasco sauce._  
  
"Does he really?" Isabel challenged, her eyes blazing. _Don't Izzy, don't. Can't you see she's only trying to incense you?_ "Does he also know what I think of him? Does he know that-" and her voice disappeared. She kept speaking, but there was no sound. _Oh, God, Izzy._  
  
Isabel's eyes widened as she noticed what had happened--that Lainea had stolen her voice. Her mouth started to tremble in shock.  
  
_Since she was a princess, she could have all the Tabasco sauce she could ever want. In fact, she had everything she wanted--everything, that is, except one. Prince Charming._  
  
Michael laughed, and Tess' blood ran cold. There was nothing of the Michael she knew in that laugh. This laugh was evil and sadistic. The Michael she knew would _never_ laugh at Isabel's expense. "I love it when you do that," he told Lainea. Ugh. If Tess had to stand this much longer, she would vomit.  
  
_So one day, Princess Tess set out on a journey to find Prince Charming. She took her closest friends and most loyal servants and left, following her instincts, on the long voyage._  
  
Lainea didn't look flattered. "Get me my crystal," she commanded him. "This is tiring." With that, Michael disappeared through the doorway and came back a few minutes later, carrying the "crystal."  
  
It wasn't a crystal at all. It looked more like a glass globe with some kind of pink mist inside. Why did she call it a crystal? What a dumbass wench.  
  
_The trip took a long time, but one day, as Princess Tess was looking out at the land, she saw him. "It's Prince Charming!" she yelled excitedly, and they all got out of the coaches. She ran up to Prince Charming, grasped his hands, and asked him, "Are you my Prince Charming?"_  
  
Michael handed the non-crystal to Lainea, who cradeled it in her arms. "Thank you, Michael." She winked at him. She actually _winked_! "Your turn."  
  
His turn for what? Was she going to freeze _him_ now? And kill him? If she tried to kill him, Tess would murder the witch, freezing power be damned.  
  
_He looked up at the princess and laughed cruelly. "No, I'm _her_ Prince Charming." He pointed to a girl nearby, an ugly girl with long, plain brown hair. The witch started to laugh too, and Princess Tess just stood there, bewildered._  
  
But all Lainea did was step back and look at Michael. Oh. His turn to torture them. Oh, God. Was _Michael_ going to torture her? How? How could he stand it?  
  
Michael walked up to Max, who was frozen with his hands on his hips. "Stop it, Michael," Max ordered. Because Michael, in his lobotomized state, would listen to him. Right.  
  
Michael laughed and punched Max in the stomach. Max stood still, but the expression on his face showed how much pain he was in. "Is that an order, Max?" Michael punched him again, and the breath flew out of Max's mouth as he hung his head, defeated.  
  
"Michael!" Maria cried, begging.  
  
Michael just tossed her a look of disdain, and turned to Lainea. "Can you?"  
  
Lainea nodded, smiling as if she had a secret. It froze Tess' insides, almost the way her outsides were frozen. Then she waved her hand in Maria's direction.  
  
What had she done? Had she stolen Maria's voice, too?  
  
Maria opened her mouth to speak again, but nothing came out. Yes, apparently the witch _had stolen her voice._  
  
There was no way to win. Was there? Tess re-ran every possibility in her head. What if she mindwarped Lainea and Michael and made it look like they'd all disappeared? Michael wouldn't know where they were to torture them, and maybe if Lainea couldn't see them, she couldn't keep them frozen.  
  
She went into the mindwarp, and suddenly, Lainea started laughing hysterically, like the maniac she was. When the witch calmed down, she looked right at Tess. Dammit. "Don't try and work your mind magic on me. It doesn't work." She looked over at Michael. "Isn't that cute, Michael? Tessie thought she could mindwarp me and escape!"  
  
_The witch kissed Prince Charming on the lips. Then she leaned in towards Princess Tess and whispered, "He's under my spell. He thinks that he loves me, not you!" She giggled, and turned back to Tess' Prince Charming. "Tie her up. Let's kill her." Something hit the princess on the back of her head, and she saw no more._  
  
The Michael-thing laughed, and walked towards Tess. "Did you really?" He took her hand, her frozen hand, and ran his fingers across it. She would have shivered. She needed to shiver.  
  
He moved his face right down to hers, so that they were eye to eye, three inches apart. "You're trying to mindwarp me, Tess?" _Oh my God._ He moved in, and their lips touched. Her eyes closed in spite of herself. What was he doing? What about being evil and against them? Was it-  
  
A sharp sting on her cheek interrupted her thoughts. Tears sprang into her eyes by reflex. Michael had slapped her. Oh, no. She couldn't cry in public. She had just cried a few days ago!  
  
"Did you like that, Tess?" the Michael-thing taunted her, and slapped her again. A wet drop rolled down her cheek, and dropped onto her lips. Salty.  
  
_When Princess Tess woke up, her arms and legs were tied up so that she couldn't move. She was scared and cold, and the witch was standing in front of her, laughing. Prince Charming slapped her and laughed, "I'm going to kill you, bitch!"_  
  
How did the story end? She couldn't remember. How did the Princess get out of the nightmare? How would she get out of _this_ nightmare?  
  
"Michael, you're an asshole!" Kyle's angry accusation came from behind her. Would that work? Would that get him out of his funk? Because it couldn't be the real Michael torturing them right now. No, she'd seen the real Michael, and this was anything but he. "What the hell is wrong with you? What are you doing to Tess? You're killing her, Michael! You're treating everyone you once loved like shit, you fucking _scum_!" He stopped for breath.  
  
Michael shuddered for a second, and Tess' hopes soared. _Thank you, Kyle._  
  
They crashed again as the facade went back up and the Michael-thing smirked. "What are you, like her knight in shining armor? Tess, why can't you defend yourself?"  
  
"Against what?" she asked dryly. "If you're going to kill me, what can I do to stop it? And if you're not, I don't have a problem." Bastard. You bastard! Where was Michael in there?  
  
"I guess I should just put you out of your misery and kill you, then," the Michael-thing said, circling her. "The thing is, I'm not sure how. I can kill quite easily--you've seen me--but it's fast and not particulalry painful. I want to put you in a lot of pain, Tess." Becuse she wasn't in enough already. "Do you know why I want to hurt you, Tess?"  
  
"Because I broke up Max and Liz?" Tess asked sarcastically.  
  
The Michael-thing laughed insanely, and suddenly slapped her, growing serious. "Because, before I got here, I thought I loved you. You almost came between me and Lainea. You little bitch." Her cupped her face in his hands gently, and she winced in order to brace herself for the next slap. It didn't help, though, as the blow knocked her head to the side, and it felt like her cheek had split down the middle.  
  
She couldn't have stopped the tears if she'd tried. "Stop it, Michael! You're hurting me, all right? You're hurting me, dammit!" A shuddering sob tried to escape, but since she could only use the muscles in her head, it came out as a wail. A horrible, ugly wail. "Are you happy now? What the hell do you _want_ from me?"  
  
To her amazement, Michael stepped back and started to shake. Wow. She could almost see the battle going on between the Michael-thing that was standing there and the Michael inside--the real Michael.  
  
"Michael," Tess whispered under her breath. This was amazing. Even just as an observer, it was fascinating watching the two spirits fight for control over one body. She was afraid to speak aloud, in case it affected the fight in Bad-Michael's favor.  
  
"Michael!" Lainea scolded. "What are you doing?"  
  
Stupid woman. Michael, his eyes full of rage, turned to her. Still struggling, he raised his arm, and the "crystal" exploded, throwing shattered glass pieces everywhere.  
  
"Tess..." Michael whispered heavily, still twitching as if being electricuted. He turned around and looked at her, pain and sorrow written all over his face. The twitching slowed down and finally stopped as he slid to the floor, unconcious.


End file.
